John Legend has criticised political commentator Tucker Carlson for promoting a conspiracy theory following the mass shooting in Buffalo over the weekend.
On Saturday, an 18-year-old white shooter opened fire at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, killing ten people and wounding three others.
In a 180-page manifesto, the accused shooter decried a decrease in birth rates in white people, writing that he targeted a predominantly Black neighbourhood because people of colour were trying to “ethnically replace my own people”.
Following the tragedy, MSNBC compiled clips of Fox News host Carlson promoting the “Great Replacement Theory”, a white nationalist conspiracy theory claiming white elites are helping people of colour replace white people in Western countries for the purpose of swinging elections.
Legend retweeted the video on Monday and called out Tucker and other conspiracy theory disseminators.
“Tucker and similar proponents of this evil ideology continue to poison the minds of millions. They have contributed to multiple terrorist massacres and will continue to do so,” the singer wrote. “This is sickening and dangerous. This should not be on a major cable network.”
He continued, “Followers of this ideology have been massacring Jews, Blacks, Asians, Latinos. When will we ostracize and de-platform these terrorist sympathizers on our TV and social networks?
“In no other context would a terrorist sympathizing news anchor be allowed to continue to spew this nonsense as the body count continues to mount.”